Written In Blood
by Once Upon A Star Trek
Summary: Just when they thought that everything was fine, Mayor Mills is abducted by a very evil blue fairy. Reul Ghorm has plans that would make even the darkest Dark One shiver. While trying to save the town, secrets are revealed.
1. 1: Prologue

_Hi. So I did manage to finish one more story before college starts again and I don't know how much time I'll have._

_I like naming my stories after songs. This one is titled after a song by Beyond The Black._

_TW for torture in the first chapters and mention of it afterwards._

_Enjoy:-)_

* * *

_Many years ago in the Enchanted Forest:_

A young dark haired girl sat by the window looking out into the night, her vision clouded by tears. Her hand ran over the gash in her face, just her mother's latest punishment. "Please. Good fairies, if you can hear me, I beg you. Take me away from my mother. Please, I will do anything, I have to get away from her." She shot her plea into the stars, staring at the sky for a few minutes. But, just like every night, no one answered her plea.

She had done this every night, ever since her father had told her stories about good fairies that protect the innocent when she was 5, getting more desperate every time. But the 15 year old teenager had just as little success as the 5 year old girl. All her pleas fell on deaf ears. She couldn't understand why they wouldn't help her, what had she done? Ten years of begging and nothing happened. So she did the only thing she could do. She gave up.

Kneeling on the ground sobbing, she asked the stars: "Why doesn't anyone help me? Please, just tell me why I am unworthy of being saved." That's when a blue light descended from the sky. It landed on the floor before her and transformed into a fairy. It was Reul Ghorm herself, the leader of the fairies. The girl smiled through her tears. Finally, someone had heard her! But what the fairy said made her smile fade.

"I am sorry, but I cannot save you, young Lady. No one can." "But ... why?", she stammered. "What have I done to deserve this? I just want to be away from her!" If the brunette hadn't been so crushed, she might have caught the condescending edge to the fairy's smile. "The fairies cannot help anyone filled with as much darkness as you. I am afraid you are a lost cause, the darkness flows through your veins. It's in your blood, your very core. It's who you are." "So you write me off solely because of who my mother is?", the girl asked. "I am not like her, I swear. I never want to become like her!" "That does not matter, for with the darkness in your essence, that's all you can be." The fairy took off into the night sky, leaving a broken young woman behind.


	2. 2

_Storybrooke, present:_

"I love you, mom." "I love you more, Henry," Regina replied as she gave her son a goodnight kiss. The days he spent with her, she always felt like she was walking on air. They'd eat homemade dinner, talk, maybe watch a movie, it was just like in the old days, before he had found out he was adopted. She lived for those days.

Going downstairs to finish cleaning the dishes, the mayor felt a chill all of a sudden. Something was wrong, but she couldn't put her finger on it. She spun around and walked back in front of her son's door. She was probably paranoid, but a protection spell couldn't hurt. A glow was emitted from her fingers, enchanting the room for the night. He'd sleep peacefully. Now she could head back downstairs and finish up. Of course, she could have used magic for the dishes as well, but manual work always calmed her and was more rewarding, the mayor found.

She had just finished drying the last plate when the chill was back. It was as if there was a lump in her throat that just wouldn't go away. Something was definitely wrong. Or was it? Maybe, she was just exhausted from her long day at work? Regina decided to go outside to catch some fresh air before going to bed. Throwing her coat and comfortable shoes on, she decided to take a little walk.

But she didn't get very far. Just past her apple tree, her eyes rotated back and she collapsed unconscious. A dark hooded figure stepped out of the shadow of the tree. Approaching the fallen queen, both vanished into thin air.

* * *

When Regina woke up, it was cold. Her coat was gone and she was laying on a table that was made from metal and thus felt really cold as well. She shivered. Trying to move her arms and legs, she found them to be bound tightly. Getting anxious, she turned her head to all sides, trying to figure out where she was. And what she saw, she didn't like.

A variety of medieval torture instruments and blades as well as modern state-of-the-art gadgets were decorating the room. This was a torture chamber. Wonderful. She was about to conjure a fireball to burn the bindings, when something was slapped on her arm. "Remember this?", a feminine voice hissed evilly. It was the cuff. Oh how she hated that thing! Having her magic restrained felt like having a limb amputated, and it reminded her of what happened with Greg. Not to mention, that she was currently in a very similar situation as last time, bound and helpless, held somewhere in a dark cold place. But this couldn't be Greg. Greg was long dead. The owner of the voice stepped into her range of vision and Regina gasped.

"Reul Ghorm." Her, of all people. But why now? "Good morning, Your Majesty", the fairy said in her sickly sweet voice with a grin. "What do you want from me?" Regina tried to come off as menacing as she could, considering she was bound and without magic. But the only answer she got was a searing pain shooting into her abdomen. The fairy had seriously stabbed her with her wand. How could that piece of wood be so sharp, the mayor thought as her mind grew foggy. Another stab, this time through her upper right arm. The wand went through completely, making a dent into the metal table beneath her. The clank echoed in her mind until she lost consciousness.

* * *

Regina came to with a deep gasp. The blue fairy's face was right above hers. She was so close, that Regina could see the insanity in the eyes of the fairy. "Welcome back. Now, where were we?" She stabbed her wand through Regina's side, making her squirm in pain. Pixie dust was released from the wand and made its way through her bloodstream. It was stimulating her nerve endings, sending her through dark parts of hell while at the same time making her hyper aware of everything around her. Since when could pixie dust do something as vicious as this? Regina turned her head to the side to face the fairy, her eyes glassy from the pain.

"What happened to you?", she rasped. "You're supposed to be one of the goody-goody heroes, who believe themselves to be so good, they turn an eye on anyone suffering. You're not supposed to cause the pain yourself; this isn't you, Blue." "Then, you don't know me as well as you think."

The nun painfully yanked her wand out of the stab wound. Black spots were clouding Regina's vision and the darkness was almost overtaking her. The brunette desperately wanted to fall into it, to escape from this pain for just a bit, but she was pulled back by a burning hot metal blade under her chin. "No no no, don't think you can slip away again so soon. You're so much more fun when you're awake, Your Majesty."

Regina felt something cut deep into her arm and screamed. It burned. The agony was so excruciating, her arm could have been on fire for all she knew. The cuts continued and so did the pain. Each cut felt like a cut straight to her heart and she could sense what was being carved onto her, all the way in her core. The fairy revelled in her screams and cries, finishing her artwork with a grin. Then she lifted Regina's arm to her face. "Look closely. This is what you are. Storybrooke might have forgotten that, but I haven't. And now, neither will you. Ever." The last thing Regina saw was four capital letters on her arm. Then, blackness finally won over.

* * *

She was pulled back from the comforts of unconsciousness by bursts of electricity coursing through her veins. The feeling was familiar. Greg. Her breathing got irregular. The cannery. Regina panicked. She was back there! She screamed in horror and agony while her back arched off the table she was lying on. The current didn't stop and her muscles kept convulsing and seizing endlessly. "Just a little reminder of someone else who saw the monster that you are!", the fairy taunted in her ear before turning the current off.

"Monster. That gives me an idea. Thanks for the inspiration." The stabbing pain of the scorching blade was back, but this time on her other arm. This time, it took longer as the word was longer. Blue enjoyed this immensely. The screams, the power. The vicious fairy took her time, tormenting the mayor for hours before finishing her second piece.

"Why?", Regina only managed to whisper as her throat was burning. "Why didn't you help me all those years ago? You could have saved me. I wouldn't have turned into this monster, I could have been a good person all along." Blue shook her head. "I told you back then and I will gladly repeat myself: No one could save you. You're a lost cause, totally hopeless. With the darkness in your DNA, there was nothing else you could have become." "How could you judge me based on my mother?" But Regina didn't get an answer, only an electric shock. "Enough questions, witch!"

* * *

Pain became her only companion apart from the fairy. Whenever she was awake, Blue would try out another one of her torture gadgets on her. The electrocution was one of her favorites because of the hellish memories it brought back, sometimes she paired it with waterboarding. She also stabbed and cut her often, drawing blood that she would collect and test. The tests seemed to be important, but Regina had no idea what they were about. Blue liked to put her through hell just for the fun of it, it seemed. Other torture methods, such as the carvings, were used just because she could. One time, the fairy tried to dig out her heart using her wand. The fairy wasn't intending to succeed, she was intending to cause excruciating pain and leave permanent scars. That, she definitely succeeded in.


	3. 3

Regina's only sense of time came from the clock that was positioned somewhere to her right. Days passed. Her voice blew out around the third day. Oh how she hoped that some of those heroes would save her soon. But days became weeks and no one came. Who would want to save her anyway? Her, the most worthless, heartless, unloveable creature ever to exist? All these words she was forced to read whenever she had to look upwards into the mirror that was hung above her now to make her see what was being branded onto her body. She stopped hoping to be rescued and rather hoped that the fairy would accidentally kill her. But that favor was never granted to her.

One time, Regina arched off the table so much from the current, one of the bindings on her leg ripped. Out of reflex, she tried to kick herself free or just the fairy in the stomach, she didn't care. But she was too weak and the fairy caught her foot. Then, she grabbed a hammer and took it to Regina's legs. The fairy was grinning, the crunching of the bones seemed to please her. It was pleasing her so much, she went further up smashing bones all over her upper body.

Regina was brought to the edge of death many times over seven weeks, only to be pulled back in the last minute. She grew weaker and weaker, not even having the strength to react to her torture anymore. Her body didn't arch from the table anymore when the electricity flowed through her. Her voice had been long gone, so the only reaction Blue received from her was a face contorted in a silent scream and flowing tears of agony. By now, Regina's entire body was covered in wounds and scars. She could easily pass as a dictionary of insults. But no matter how full her skin was, Blue always found free spots to dig into her and extract blood and bone marrow, or add another word when inspiration struck.

Her body was damaged beyond the point of repair and the fairy knew that. As much as Blue hated it, she had to go easier on Regina if she didn't want her to die. So she increasingly resorted to mental torture. A special spell made Regina relive her darkest memories, which were mostly about Cora and Leopold. Her mother's punishments and murder of Daniel and the nights with her husband took turns playing in her mind on repeat, tormenting her weakened heart.

* * *

The mirror above the table could easily be enchanted to show what she wanted the Queen to see. She wanted her broken and she knew just how to achieve that. Henry's face came into view on the mirror, it seemed as if he was looking directly at Regina. "You deserve everything that's happening to you. You are nothing but evil and I'd be the happiest if you never made it out alive."

The words cut through Regina's skin and her heart broke. The pain surpassed everything she had experienced so far. It set free an amount of magic that shattered the bindings and cuffs as well as most of the glass in the room. Blue was thrown against a wall and lost consciousness.

This was her chance. She had to get out of here, Regina thought. But how? And who would care if she escaped? If Henry wanted her away from him, what point was there to escape? She closed her eyes in defeat. But selfish as she was, she had to see him, just one last time.

She rolled off the table, fell and landed in a puddle of blood. She could forget her legs, of course they hadn't had a chance to properly heal, so she had to rely on her arms and somehow crawl out of here. Each meter was fought for and sent new jolts of pain through her, but she needed to see Henry. She fought on for that one glimpse of her son and didn't look back and thus didn't see the blood that was seeping out of her and leaving a trail. The burst of energy had broken open all her wounds.

It was dark outside. It was obviously night-time, which meant that there was nobody outside. One part of her was relieved that the chances of her being seen like that were low. The other however had no idea how she was supposed to make it across half the town on her own. Winter must be very long this year, she thought as she shivered in the snow that had already been there when she had been abducted. The citizens were lucky her throat allowed no sound or she would have woken them with her moans and cries. She was slower than a turtle, it took several hours to get across half the town.

* * *

Panting, Regina pulled herself up onto the front porch of her house. She mustered up the last bit of her strength to weakly knock on the door since she was too weak to pull herself up high enough to reach the door handle. No response. In her desperation she tried again. Nothing.

Of course, why should Henry be awake in the middle of the night? Or why should he be in the mansion all alone for so long, she realized. Stupid! She would have hit herself if she'd had the strength. Stupid! Completely drained, she let her hand slide downwards, leaving red stains on the white door. Her head sunk against the door and her eyes closed. She didn't even register the cold seeping through her bones anymore as she lost consciousness.


	4. 4

Henry was woken up by the sun shining through his window. Which was odd, because normally his mother would wake him with the delicious smell of breakfast. He went downstairs to the kitchen, his mom wasn't up. Maybe she was still asleep. He shrugged and went to the kitchen to have some cereal for breakfast. He'd let her sleep, she probably needed it. Wherever she had been last night after dinner, he hadn't heard her come back home. When he was done, showered and dressed, he went to the door to grab the mail. He opened the door and gasped in shock when his mother's head tumbled to his feet.

"Mom?!"

Blood. There was so much blood! The boy stumbled and froze briefly, then he ran to get his phone.

"Hey Henry, what's up?", Emma asked when she saw his name on the phone. _"Ma, you need to get here right now! I just found mom unconscious on the porch and there's so much blood and…"_ "Calm down, Henry. I'm on my way. Give me a few minutes, I'll be right there. You call an ambulance, okay?"

* * *

When Emma turned onto Main Street, she couldn't believe her eyes. A trail of blood flew along the sidewalk, creating a disgusting contrast to the white snow. She immediately called her deputy-dad and put him on speaker. He sounded pretty tired when he answered, but he was wide awake when he heard Emma practically screaming at him. "Dad, I need your help. If you drive down to Main Street, you'll see a trail of blood. Turn left and follow it to figure out what happened. I'm following it upstream and from what Henry just told me, it's probably gonna lead me straight to Regina."

And indeed it did. Emma arrived just a minute before the ambulance did. She practically flew to the two. Putting two fingers against her co-mom's neck, she searched for a pulse. It was weak, but there. Emma put her hand on Henry's shoulder to try to calm her son. Then she took in Regina's state.

The raven haired beauty was almost fully covered in blood. The skin that was still visible was as white as snow. Her beautiful raven hair, which seemed longer than Emma remembered it, was sticking to her head. Emma suspected a severe head wound based on the blood that was running down the older woman's face, covering the left half completely. She also noticed one of her arms being wrapped around her core, as if she had been trying to keep her intestines from spilling out. And the legs that were sprawled out in unnatural angles, Emma could see the bones sticking out in several places. That was all Emma could see because of the huge amount of blood. Emma's stomach was churning at the sight, who would do something like that?

The paramedics had just arrived and were carefully lifting the body onto a gurney to get her to the hospital. Emma called Mary Margaret to pick up a shaken up Henry before getting in the ambulance.

* * *

David was still following the trail in the snow, when Emma called him to tell him that it was indeed Regina's blood he was following. By now, he was glad he hadn't had any breakfast before heading out. The trail was leading him to the woods, he suspected. He went on and on, until he arrived at the mines. What the hell would someone do in the mines in the middle of the night? He called Emma to tell her where he was before he pulled out a flashlight and went in.

The sight in front of him was even worse than what he had seen outside. Someone had made themselves at home, practically building a torture chamber underground. It was utter chaos, blood everywhere, broken glass and all kinds of sharp instruments all over the place. There was a table in the middle of the room and some machine next to it. He immediately recognized it as the one Greg had used on Regina in the cannery. The prince gulped at the memory. But Greg was gone, who would do this to her?

Constantly trying not to vomit, the deputy began analyzing the room, searching for leads on who had done this. The usual search for fingerprints, taking photos, collecting fabric, until he couldn't take it anymore and had to leave before his vomit would destroy evidence. He just barely made it out in time.

When he was done retching, he called Emma to report. Her voice sounded surprised when she picked up. _"What, dad?"_ "I've been in there. It was set up as a torture chamber, I sweeped everything and am bringing potential evidence to the station." Emma's surprise turned into confusion. _"But how? You've been gone for a few seconds!"_ Now it was David's turn to be surprised. "I admit, the place was so horrible that I wanted nothing more than to run out of there. But I swear it was longer than that. I went in, did an admittedly quick search, ran out and even had time to puke." _"That can't be right. Has someone been messing with the flow of time? I'm going to Gold later. Bye dad."_ The sheriff hung up and David shakingly walked to his car to drive to the station.


	5. 5

_Hi. I wanna say thank you to you all, especially Sammii16, thank you so much for being such a loyal reader. LG_

* * *

When the ambulance had reached the hospital, Regina had been wheeled into emergency surgery. Emma had made herself at home in the waiting room outside the OR waiting for news. She was pacing in the waiting room for what felt like hours. When her mother came by and Emma glanced at the clock, she realized it had indeed been hours.

"Hey Emma. I brought you a burger from Granny's. You must be hungry." The blonde gratefully grabbed the takeout bag, while Mary Margaret threw her a glance. "Any news?", she asked. "None. She's been in there ever since we got here. I'm worried. How's Henry holding up?" "Currently devouring some ice cream with Ruby. He calmed down from his shock I think. But he's very scared."

* * *

Finally, the door opened and Whale approached the two women. At the worried glance of the two, he began to speak. He had trouble keeping it together, and he was one of the queen's strongest haters.

"We somewhat stabilized her, but she is still unconscious. She was severely injured, crushed bones, heavy blood loss, deep wounds and scars. A concussion and burn marks, to list just some of the things she's been through, on top of a bad hypothermia. Her heart gave out a few times during the surgery, we barely managed to bring her back." Snow covered her mouth with her hand.

The doctor continued. "But I'm confused, some of the wounds date back weeks. Which can't be, since I saw her at Town Hall yesterday. This doesn't make any sense, how can that be?" "Well…", Emma began, "David found the place where this was done to her and he did a whole sweep and search in like 5 seconds. I'm thinking it might be a temporal anomaly. I'm going to the station and Gold later to figure this out, can I see her before I go?" The doctor nodded slowly, leading her in.

Now that most of the blood was washed off, Emma could see the extent of the damage. The heavy machinery attached to her seemed to tower over Regina's frail petite body. Both her legs were in casts, her torso was wrapped in a bandage. And there were marks and scars everywhere on her body. So many, Emma didn't even want to imagine how many. Then she noticed something. And bit back a gasp. One word was carved into the queen's skin on her right forearm. 'Evil'. She checked the other arm. 'Monster'.

She had to bite back the tears checking for more words. The head wound was actually another word, carved onto her forehead: 'Villain'. There were scars that looked like they might be words, but something was different. Until Emma realized and grabbed a mirror from the bathroom. The word 'Unloveable' was written all across her collarbone. Emma couldn't. She threw the mirror to Whale and left to get some air.

* * *

"Gold, we need your help", Emma said as she threw the door to the pawn shop open in a haste. "No need to destroy my door. What is going on that you can't solve on your own, Savior?", the imp replied. "Regina was tortured. In a place where time is weird. David checked it out and he spent minutes while it was seconds to me. She has scars that are weeks old but weren't there yesterday. Could you help us figure this out? Please?" Gold had actually gotten a little pale. "Where is it?" "The mines." The two vanished in red smoke only to reappear in front of the entrance to the mines.

* * *

Emma tried to not let the dried blood stream throw her off and went in with Gold behind her. "There is something wrong here", the sorcerer noted. "Apart from the fact that someone clearly lived out their sadistic side." He looked around, spotting the many daggers and knives, the machine, the test tubes, everything. "Magic?", the sheriff asked, prompting Gold to take a few steps backwards. "Yes indeed. I sense residual energy from a magical border. Hand me your watch, Sheriff." Emma hesitated at first, but then thought to hell with it, it's a watch. She handed it to the imp, who had by now drawn a line where he sensed the shift. "We put one watch on each side to determine the time difference."

While he waited outside, Emma took in the room. There was a metal table in the center of the room with lots of blood on it. There had been restraints on it as well, but they looked blown off. On the ground, Emma found the shattered remains of a certain cuff. David had obviously been very quick. On the desk next to a wall, she inspected the test tubes. All of them were filled with a liquid. It was red, but a very dark red. Scattered notes detailed an experimentation process, something about extracting stuff. That was all the sheriff could make out.

* * *

After one minute (normal time), Gold picked up his watch, then went to Emma inside the anomaly. "How much time has passed for you?" "I thought you'd never ask. Two hours, 38 minutes." Gold scratched his ear. "I waited for a minute. Which would make time in here be accelerated by a factor of 168." Emma stared. "Let's put it so you understand it as well, Miss Swan. One hour out there is a week in here." Now Emma coughed. Regina had probably been gone for hours, she had been in this hellhole for weeks!


	6. 6

It took four days for Regina to wake up. She felt wrong; the lights were too bright, the smell too intense and the sounds too loud. But she wasn't in that room anymore, she realized. This was the hospital. So they'd decided to help her now at least, but they hadn't cared all those weeks.

Whale entered the room. "There you are, Madam Mayor. We missed your snark." Regina didn't have the energy to talk back at him, so he just checked the monitors and did a check-up. When he left, she slipped back into the world of dreams. Or rather nightmares.

* * *

When she next woke up, she spotted blonde curls in her vision. "Hey there. We were so worried about you." Oh as if, she innerly scoffed. "In all those weeks, you didn't come find me, but now you're worried, huh? Save it," she whispered, her voice still far from okay. She was actually surprised that Emma could even hear and understand her. "Regina, it's not how you think. You weren't even gone for one night. The place in the mines had a temporal anomaly spell. A week in there was just an hour out here." So that's why no one had come for her, they hadn't even known she was gone. She sighed.

"Regina, I need you to tell me what happened. What was done to you, who did it and all that." Regina took a deep breath, trying to center herself. But she couldn't. The memories and the pain were weighing her down, crushing her under their weight. Her breathing grew labored and she shook her head in defeat. "Come on, Regina. You're safe here. You're so strong. You fought your way back home after all of this, you didn't give up. Don't give up now. Who did this to you?" Regina gathered the little strength she had left to choke out one syllable: "Blue."

Emma couldn't believe it. The good fairy was the last person she would suspect. "Are you sure?", she asked. "She's...not as...good as you...think." Her strength was depleted and the former queen sunk back into unconsciousness. Emma called David and had him meet her at the convent. They would ask the fairy a few questions.

* * *

When they had made it to the interrogation room at the station, Emma handled the questioning. Blue pretended to be oblivious of what she had supposedly done at first, but Emma could see how smug she was about it. "Where were you four nights ago", she asked, to which the fairy immediately replied: "At the convent, where else?" Her reply came to quick for her to be unaware of having done anything. "Did you happen to take a little trip? To the mines, maybe?" "What are you implying?", the fairy asked. "I'm implying that you tortured Regina in the mines."

Blue knew that Emma knew, so there was no use in lying, so she gave up on trying to fool the woman. "Oh, is that so? Good deduction, sheriff. I did. She had something that I wanted, but I found her to be rather… uncooperative, which forced me to take slightly more extreme measures. But that witch deserved everything that happened to her." "That's it, to the cell you go. Hand me your wand", Emma ordered.

"I don't think so. I am tired of being treated as your everyday nun. Soon, I will be in control once more." With a wave of the wand, Blue was her miniature fairy size and flew out of the window.

* * *

Snow didn't believe it. There was no way her fairy godmother would do such a thing. She refused to believe her daughter. Blue was good. Regardless, Emma had gotten the rest of the fairies to set out to find her; David, Ruby and her could use any help they got.

Granny had been posted in Regina's hospital room in case the fairy decided her job wasn't done. The old lady was good company. And her food did Regina's weak body good. Henry hadn't come by yet. The images in his mind were probably too harrowing, she thought.

He ended up coming on the third day after she had woken up. During his whole visit, he could hardly look at her. And she couldn't blame him. She couldn't stand to look into a mirror herself.

* * *

They kept her in the hospital for another week. The old Regina would have jumped off the bed and walked to work after a day. But this Regina barely had the strength to exist. Emma brought her home in her yellow bug and Regina didn't even try one jab at the car.

The search for the Blue Fairy didn't yield any results. She was hiding somewhere where even Rumple's locator spells couldn't find her. And that meant she was planning something. Emma forced Regina to stay home and regain her strength for a week while they were hunting the fairy.

That week was hell. She couldn't just sit back while everyone else was out there trying to catch the damned moth. It took Regina four days to be able to use her magic again without passing out from the energy drain. She longed to heal those scars on her body, but she couldn't. She had tried, but Blue had made them permanent somehow. They would remain forever and she couldn't waste what little magic she had for a glamour spell. The only option was to avoid all mirrors. She knew what she looked like anyway.


	7. 7

After ten days with no success, the search group was holding an emergency meeting at Gold's. Snow was still arguing that the fairy was on the side of good, but Emma shut her down fairly quickly. "She confessed her crime! She boasted about torturing a human being! So please, do us all a favor and shut up!" Rumple approached them, giving Emma a slight nod of acknowledgement. "Miss Swan is right. Even I am disgusted by what that moth has done and I am called the Dark One for a reason. We are going to find that deceitful fairy, if you agree with it or not. Now move out of the way."

He was almost out of the door when the earth shook. "What the hell was that?", Emma exclaimed while plucking herself up from the floor. "I suspect this is the execution of whatever the nun has planned. It appears someone could use a little clip of their wings." By now, not even Snow could really defend Blue. The air around them was odd, they all felt drained.

Emma's phone rang, it was Tink. The fairies had discovered a hidden room at the convent, which might be Blue's hideout. Emma transported them to the convent in the hopes that Blue had left something laying around that would tell them her plan.

* * *

They were lucky, the fairy had made a hasty escape. David found a piece of parchment sticking out of an old tome. He opened it on the marked page, the others were over him immediately. The Charmings and Ruby couldn't read what was written on there, but the resident magic experts did.

Rumple furrowed his brow in worry. "She's cursed the cauldron of life! She has put a spell on it that will slowly extinguish its light. If she succeeds, she can control us all."

The cauldron was an ancient magical relic that fed the world with life. Control over the cauldron gave one control over the minds of every living being. It was an independent entity, but somehow, Blue had managed to override every single protection.

"We need to stop her! Where could she have brought it?", Emma asked. Regina could sense the origin of the wave of magic that was spreading. "The cave under the library."

The group made their way there, hoping they were not too late. Rumple had gotten lost at some point, but they had no time to lose.

Stepping out of the old elevator, they could spot the cauldron brewing and glowing on the other end of the cave. "We have to restore the cauldron before we're all slaves of the blue moth. Our magic should be able to counteract it", Regina said, looking at Emma. Not wasting any time, they approached it.

* * *

Everything shifted within one step. Regina could feel something was wrong. She turned to Emma to see the blonde collapse. "Take her back!", she shouted to the Charmings, who helped her carry their daughter back to the elevator.

The queen tentatively approached the place where the shift had happened and lifted a hand, analyzing the situation. "What is it, Regina?", Charming inquired. She sighed. "A barrier spell. It targets only those with light magic." She cursed. "The moth protected the cauldron from heroes so the cauldron can do its work undisturbed. Emma is the literal embodiment of light magic, it knocked her right out. Out here, she should regain her strength soon." "But we could go in with no problem", Snow piped up. "Well, the two of you don't have any magic. This spell doesn't affect you at all, but you can pose no threat to Blue either." "Well, it's a good thing we have you, Regina. The perks of knowing a dark sorceress."

Regina closed her eyes to center herself before replying: "My magic is both dark and light. I can't tell the proportions, so I don't know how this spell affects me. Those few seconds in there, it was just a bad feeling. This might mean that either my light magic is just a tiny part of my essence or that the spell just needed longer to detect it. It took myself decades to find it as well, after all. There's no telling what will happen." She took a deep breath.

"Charming, you stay with Emma. Snow, you're with me. You're perfectly safe and I might need your help." Both Charmings nodded and she continued. "If my second theory is true, then we have a little time before this thing latches onto my light magic. We will run in as far as possible to cover as much distance as we can before it gets too hard. We have to reach the cauldron no matter what. And…if I don't make it, you have to complete the mission for me."

"But how?", Snow asked. "I don't have any magic." Regina breathed and conjured a strange-looking artifact in her hand. "This is an ancient tool humans used to extract magic from magic-users. If I fail, you have to extract my magic and complete the task."

"What...how...why?", Snow stuttered. "Why do I have it? I discovered it when I cleared out my mother's things from my vault a while ago. It appears, she wasn't even above stealing magic, but when it comes to my mother, nothing can shock me anymore. As for the how you use it, you will direct it straight at my heart and say the incantation you read here. I will have already given my magic a purpose, so you only need to direct it. You will aim your free hand at the cauldron and let it flow. Think of it like a magical lightning conductor." "That doesn't sound safe…", the princess cringed. But Regina shrugged. "Don't worry, you'll be fine.

It is vital that you do as I say. When I tell you to use it, you do it. And you must not stop until the cauldron is back to normal, no matter what happens, do you understand?" Snow nodded at the stern instruction. She was frightened and alarmed, but did she really have a choice? Where was Rumplestiltskin with his purely dark magic when they needed him?!

"Ready?" "No, let's go." One deep breath and the two women ran towards the cauldron side by side.


	8. 8

As soon as they crossed the barrier, something in Regina shifted again. It didn't hurt, but it ran through her like a shiver. She ran on as fast as her legs and lungs allowed.

With every second, it felt worse, beginning with a small headache, to morph into full blown agony and helpless spasms. Snow threw her glances every few moments, and she could see how her stepmother was hurting more with every second.

They got about halfway when Regina had to stop, the pain was too much. Her breath came in short huffs and she was whimpering, her face contorted in pain. "Second theory", she breathed. Snow was by her side in an instant, wrapping her arm around her waist to steady her. "You can do this, Regina. I know this sounds ridiculous, but right now it would really help if you channeled your inner evil queen." "This is what ... I've been doing the … whole time. It's the only reason I'm still on my feet", Regina choked out in between moans. "Can...can you help me walk?" She hated herself for being so weak, especially in front of her former arch nemesis, but she had a mission to fulfill. The younger woman immediately complied. Arm in arm, they took each step at a time.

Not even a minute later, Regina lifted her free arm to her mouth and bit into it to try to keep from screaming. Snow felt something wet on her shoulder and discovered it to be tears. "We're almost there, Regina. Look, you almost made it." She had to practically drag Regina the last few steps up to the cauldron, whose light grew darker with every second. "You got this, Regina!", Snow encouraged her one last time.

The queen took a deep breath before shakily raising her arms. Snow was holding her as she channeled her magic into the magical cauldron. Now that she didn't have anything to bite, her screams of pain came out full force. Snow had never heard such a terrifying sound. Her hands kept shaking, the tremors grew worse and worse.

At some point after seemingly endless minutes, she just couldn't take it anymore. Her whole body went rigid and her eyes started to flutter. "You have to do it, Snow", she whimpered before her knees gave out and she slipped through Snow's arms to the ground. "Do it!" The princess knew that this was terribly wrong, but what choice did she have? She grabbed the artifact, held it above Regina's chest and read out the words. "Sit mihi usus magicae."

A bright purple light shot from Regina's heart into the artifact. Snow could feel its power. In awe, she aimed at the cauldron and the energy flow continued. She was so concentrated on her task, she didn't even notice Regina shaking and screaming in agony.

A flash of white light emerged and the cauldron's energy returned to its natural, light state. "We made it. Regina, we made it!" She looked down, finally spotting the still form of her stepmother. "Regina?!"

* * *

Charming and an awake Emma ran towards them, the barrier was down. They looked at her questioningly. Snow frantically tried to find a pulse, but there was none.

"She didn't mention that this thing would kill her, didn't she?" Rumplestiltskin had emerged from behind her, pointing to the artifact in the princess' hand. Realization hit Snow like a train. "She...she said that I would be fine. I should have known. I should have known and found another way!"

She was crying when she punched Gold. "Where were you when we needed you?! You could have walked through this thing, saved us all, with no trouble. You and your damned dark magic!" "I was fighting the moth. I couldn't just slip out of there. She just exploded all of a sudden and I found my way here", the Dark One defended himself.

"Why couldn't you be faster? Regina is dead! She sacrificed herself for all of us!" Gold's face fell at the realization. He kneeled and solemnly caressed his apprentice's face, whose expression was a testament to the agony she had felt during her last moments.

The Dark One was shoved aside by Emma Swan. The blonde was shaking the limp body of the queen, yelling at her. "Come on, don't pull the play-dead card on us, Regina! Open your eyes, dammit!" Tears were streaming down her face.

No, this couldn't be real! Regina would wake up, if she just annoyed her enough. Trying to come up with something good, she blurted out the first thing she could think of: "I let Henry have three milkshakes at lunch yesterday. And then we played video games until midnight."

No response, naturally. "Come on, you have to yell at me! Lecture me, judge me, just please wake up! What am I supposed to do without you?" 'Snow White and her family crying for the Evil Queen. Oh the irony', Gold thought darkly. He would have laughed at the sight, if he hadn't been crying himself.

* * *

Another bright flash erupted from the cauldron. It felt warm and happy, like a summer breeze. A whisper fluttered through the air. "The cauldron thanks its protector." And Regina took a breath.

For a moment, she just continued to lay there and breathe, then she opened her eyes. To be wrapped in a group hug by Snow and Gold. Gold? Yes, Gold was actually hugging her. What the hell was wrong with that imp?

Emma, who had been beaten to her by Rumple, was futilely trying to join the embrace. She would have to fight for her place. And since she wouldn't stand a chance against Rumple, she just pulled her mother away to wrap her arms around her co-mom. "Don't you ever do that again, you hear me?" Regina just revelled in the warmth until she allowed them to pull her to her feet.

* * *

"Well, it appears that my light magic outweighs my dark magic", she remarked dryly. "But how is that possible?", David was confused. "Have you all forgotten about the whole Zelena incident? It was specifically said that only the preveyor of the strongest light magic could defeat her, which Regina did. So it's pretty obvious. Regina has the strongest light magic", Emma concluded logically. Mister Spock would be proud of her.

"The Evil Queen and light magic, I bet no one ever saw that coming", Regina deadpanned, which had everyone chuckling, until Gold piped up: "I did." Sure, Rumple and his power of foresight.

"How about celebration at Granny's?", Snow suggested, which was met with happy cheers. They made their way back to the elevator together.

Regina was surprised when the Dark One grabbed her hand and pulled her away from the group. What in the world did he want?


	9. 9

They had disappeared behind a rock formation, when the old man began to speak. "Sorry about that, but I needed to speak to you in private. I am sure you have questions, and you deserve the answers. This will be a lot to take in, just listen." Regina was stunned and nodded, too confused to do anything else. Rumple began. "I'm sorry for keeping this information from you for so long, but I feel that now is the right time.

You see, there was a reason why Zelena was the quicker study. I was only teaching dark magic to the both of you. Her magic was purely dark, while you were operating on about 20% of your potential - yes, I did a test at some point. And look what you've achieved with that! Imagine what you could do using your gift to its full potential!" That information was a lot to take in. Thankfully, Rumple gave her a few moments to process it.

"You know Rumple, I've always wondered, why did you keep teaching me when Zelena was so much better?", she asked. "Power is not everything, dearie. I knew it would be a daughter of Cora that would cast me my curse. But power was not important for the curse you see, even Snow White cast it.

It was your ability to love that qualified you for the task. I knew from the second that I saw you that you have such a huge heart and capability to love and would be able to cast the curse. I only kept teaching Zelena because I hoped that she would develop the same since I didn't want someone as precious as you to have to go through the pain of having to kill the person you love most.

But she didn't because no one can match your huge heart. Your capacity for emotion is so enormous, you even feel without your heart. That is because your emotion comes from your soul." Regina's jaw dropped. "Yes, that's right. Losing one's heart normally takes away all the capacity for emotion."

Regina was horrified at the thought of what she had done to all these people, she had forced them to live without any emotion at all! She had always thought it just dulled the feelings. Rumple saw that and went on: "You didn't know any better because you didn't know how special you are."

He chuckled. "Isn't it ironic that something so wonderful could come from the copulation of two of the most wretched people on this Earth." Regina's confusion over this whole situation turned into anger at the mention of her parents. "My father was a good man!", Regina retorted. "No, he wasn't." "Don't you dare speak ill of my father, he was a better person than you could ever hope to be!", she practically shouted at the imp. Rumple sighed. "Prince Henry was a good man, but he was not your father. I am."

"No." Regina shook her head. "No. You're not funny, Gold." "Good thing I'm not joking. You're my daughter." Regina was taken aback. What kind of sick game was the imp playing now? What was he trying to accomplish? "I can prove it to you. I believe everything we need should be in your vault." He held out his hand and waited for Regina to take it, which she eventually did with a death glare à la Captain Janeway. They disappeared in a cloud of red and purple smoke.

* * *

As soon as the smoke cleared, they found themselves in the Mills mausoleum, in front of Henry Mills Sr' coffin. A small dagger appeared in Gold's hand and he slid it across Regina's palm before she could react. "And what now?" "Now, we let your blood reveal your lineage."

The sorcerer murmured the incantation of revelation and the blood in Regina's hand began to form a bright red string that flew into the air. It swirled around the room a few times, heading back and forth between the tomb and the man, before it finally made up its mind, shot towards Rumplestiltskin and surrounded him before vanishing. "Convinced now?", he asked. Regina slid down to sit against the wall trying to process what had just been revealed.

"So, you have known this whole time and never felt it necessary to tell me? You let Cora do all these things to me and then turned me into your personal monster, who would do that to their child?" The emotions were overwhelming her. "I didn't know about you until you summoned me with your mother's spellbook. As soon as I saw you, I felt your essence and knew. But as long as Zelena couldn't cast the curse, I couldn't have you love me. I didn't tell you, so that you could cherish Prince Henry as your father, I wanted to make it to this land alive after all", Rumple said apologetically.

Regina clenched and unclenched her fists. "I pleaded to the fairies when I was young. For years, I begged them to take me away from my mother. After ten years, the blue gnat finally came. To tell me that I'm a lost cause. That I cannot be saved because of the darkness in my DNA. I didn't understand her, I didn't understand how she could project my mother's actions onto me.

But now, knowing that I'm a bastard of the Dark One? Of course she wrote me off, who could stand being around the melting pot of all darkness in person? Cora, you, hell even Peter Pan! Is there anyone in my lineage who wasn't a monster?" "Probably not" was the short reply. That's when Regina realized.

"She knew. The blue gnat knew. All these years. Who else knew?" "Well, your mother definitely did. And me later. Prince Henry probably never did. He was too kind of a soul to ever even suspect a thing." "Blue told me I was hopeless due to my DNA and that I could only become a monster. Guess I proved her right in the end. I come from a long line of the vilest and darkest." Regina shook her head in disgust.

"You could have called on the Black Fairy, she would have taken you without second thought. Because stealing children is what she does. Only her own son she abandoned. Me." At that, Regina looked up shocked. Rumple went on. "I thought it would help you to know more about your lineage. Your grandmother was an actual fairy." "Oh jeez!"

She gulped. "When she wasn't having fun carving words onto me or living out her sadistic side another way, the moth was extracting my DNA and experimenting with it. She...oh my ggod! She said the darkness is in my DNA, could she have wanted that for something? But what could she have wanted from my darkness?" "Defeat me", Rumple replied.

"Defeat you?" "Well dearie, you have the essence of the Dark One running through your veins without being the Dark One. In you, she might have tried to find the key to destroy me without becoming my predecessor. And I have reason to believe she used part of your darkness to activate the cauldron. The moth would have never been able to do that with her pathetic fairy dust." It finally came together, how that damned fairy had been able to curse the cauldron of life.

"I wonder how I would have turned out if you had known and taken me with you", the mayor asked herself. "Well, I would have needed you for the curse, so I would have done everything in my power to corrupt you anyhow." "No, I mean how I would have been raised. Family is important to you, you even created a curse to be reunited with your son. And you had your heart. As black as it is, it is always better than no heart at all." As crazy as it was, Regina would have preferred being raised by the Dark One.

Her father chuckled. "I'm so sorry for everything I've put you through, but look at how far you've come. You've come back from the beast I made you. I couldn't be more proud of you. And I realize, I've never really thanked you for bringing me to Bae."

* * *

Realization hit Regina. "I have a brother! And… a nephew. Wait, Henry is my nephew?!"

"Well, it seems you do have a blood connection with your son. Why don't you two come for family dinner tonight? I'd like to tell Belle and Bae, no more secrets." Oh, that dinner would be awkward!


	10. 10: Family

"So, now that Blue is gone, who is in charge of the fairies?", Emma wondered. Snow grinned. "Tink and Nova have taken over together. They're going to be fantastic, I just know it. They've already started changing things up and finally bringing the fairies into the present. Fairies and dwarfs are now allowed to love. I have absolutely no idea where that came from", she winked. "And noone is written off anymore, they want to give everyone the help they need."

* * *

Regina took a deep breath before knocking at the Golds' door. She had picked up Henry earlier, saying she'd bring him to his family dinner. He didn't know she was staying as well. Belle opened the door. "Hello, come in." She led them to the living room.

"Uhm, Rumple? You set the table for five?" "Yes, yes, that's all correct. There is something I want to tell you…" He decided to rip the band-aid off in one go. "Regina is my daughter." Three open mouths were the answer. "That was pretty much my reaction when he told me earlier today", Regina said awkwardly.

"I can't believe it. I have a sister!" All of a sudden, two strong arms were wrapped around her. "I'm a big brother!", Neal was overjoyed. "And you raised my son wonderfully, thank you so much."

When he finally let her go, Henry stared. "Wait, so… you're my aunt?" This was the moment Regina had feared so much. She cringed, waiting for his reaction. "Uhmm-" "I don't care, you'll always be my mom to me." And he was the next one to hug her.

"So now I have two stepkids who are older than me." Her eyes met Belle's. "Belle, I know I can never make up for what I did to you. I'm so terribly sorry, if you can't be around me, that's fi…" "Oh screw it, come here." The younger woman opened her arms. "I've forgiven Rumple for everything he did, so forgiving you is actually pretty easy. Welcome to the family." The two women broke apart. Belle laughed. "Locking me up seems to run in the family. Now Henry, don't get any ideas."

The whole family broke into laughter. They would go on to have a nice evening laughing around the dinner table.

* * *

_That's it, folks. I just needed to add this happy little ending. Thanks for reading and your feedback. LG_


End file.
